


The Darkest Night

by Samunderthelights



Series: The End Of The Night [6]
Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Brother/Brother Incest, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Canon Related, Don't copy to another site, M/M, Sibling Incest, Sibling Love, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24960598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samunderthelights/pseuds/Samunderthelights
Summary: Tumblr : https://samunderthelights.tumblr.com/
Relationships: Hvitserk & Ubbe (Vikings), Hvitserk/Ubbe (Vikings)
Series: The End Of The Night [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592800
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	The Darkest Night

It has been months since the brothers have taken back Kattegat, months since Ivar has fled. Ubbe was hoping that when he was reunited with his brothers, it was the beginning of something new. Something better. This time they had won, and if they stuck together, they could be stronger than ever.

  
But only weeks after they had been reunited, something had changed in Hvitserk. He had started drinking, he had started to go missing for hours at a time. Ubbe had gone to his place, to the river, even to the place where they used to live together, all those years ago. But he hadn’t been able to find him. And by the time Hvitserk would show up again, he would be drunk and off his head, slurring his words.

  
Bjorn had ignored it, and he had warned his family to do the same. He had told them all that Hvitserk would be fine, that this was his way of coping with what had happened. Ubbe had accepted Bjorn’s decision in front of the others, but there had been dozens of arguments once they were on their own, because Ubbe could see that Hvitserk was getting worse every day. So behind Bjorn’s back he had tried to help Hvitserk. He had tried to get him to talk, over and over again. But Hvitserk had ignored him, told him he was fine. Ubbe could see he wasn’t though, so he had kept trying, until Hvitserk had pushed him to the ground one day.

  
Ubbe had seen the guilt in his eyes, the hurt. But he had been rejected by his brother before, and he could see where this was going. So to protect himself, he had stopped trying, and from a distance, he had watched as his brother had slowly but surely gotten more and more lost.

  
But Hvitserk has been missing for almost a full day now, and no matter how hard Ubbe is trying to take his mind off his brother, to focus on Torvi and the children, he can’t stop worrying. What if Hvitserk has gotten drunk and he is lying somewhere, hurt? What if someone has gotten to him? What if Ivar has gotten to him?

“Go.”

“What?” Ubbe asks, but Torvi sighs, as she takes his hand. “I’m sorry, I…”

  
“I can see how worried you are, Ubbe.”

  
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

  
“Just go,” Torvi says, as Ubbe brings her hand up to his mouth to kiss it. “Be careful, please.”

  
Ubbe steps outside, not sure where to go first, because every time he had tried looking for his brother all those months ago, he had been nowhere to be found. He had asked around to see if anyone had figured out where he had disappeared to all those times, but no one had known. No one had cared to find out.

  
So he tries the river again, his heart nearly beating out of his chest as he even searches the water. But Hvitserk isn’t there. So he walks past the place where Hvitserk used to live, but he finds it empty, and it looks as abandoned as it had looked when Ubbe had last checked in weeks ago. He almost doesn’t bother going up to the place where he and Hvitserk had lived together, but as he is about to head to the water, something tells him to turn around.

  
As he comes up to the old, abandoned home he used to live in, he feels himself getting choked up. He still remembers when he had first moved in, how it had looked then. But it looks like it’s on the verge of collapsing now, and nothing is left of the cosy, warm home it had once been.

  
He steps inside, and he can hear his brother’s ragged breathing even from where he is standing. The breathing is coming from next to the bed which hasn’t collapsed yet, his old bed.

  
“What has happened to you?” he whispers, as he kneels down beside his brother. He wraps an arm around him, as Hvitserk leans his head against his chest, his face covered in tears, sweat, his eyes bloodshot, his hair covered in dirt. Ubbe looks down at him, and for a moment, he sees the handsome young man Hvitserk had grown up to be, the young man with the beautiful, almost secretive smile. The young man he had woken up next to so many times. But as he sees him now, he fears that the young man he had grown up with, the young man he had laughed with, whom he had kissed, touched, loved, is gone.

  
“I’m sorry,” Hvitserk whispers, his voice hoarse. “I’m sorry, Ubbe.”

  
“Look at yourself!” Ubbe spits out. “What would our father say, huh? If he could see you now, like this!”

  
“I’m sorry.”

  
“What is happening to you, Hvitserk?” Ubbe whispers, as he tightens his grip around his brother’s shoulder, hoping that it will stop him from shaking.

  
“I keep seeing him.”

  
“Who?”

  
“Ivar! He is here, Ubbe!”

  
“Ivar isn’t here. He fled Kattegat, remember?” Ubbe asks, trying to hide the worry in his voice, but failing miserably, because he can see the panic, the fear in his brother’s eyes.

  
“I see him!” Hvisterk cries out, bringing up his finger to point out his younger brother, but Ubbe stops him. “I’m like her, aren’t I?”

  
“Like who?”

  
“Margrethe. She was mad too. Have I gone mad, Ubbe?” Hvitserk asks, sounding like a little boy now. Seeing him like this brings tears to Ubbe’s eyes, and all he can do is shake is head. “I’ve gone mad, haven’t I?”

  
“No, you are not mad, do you hear me?” Ubbe says, struggling to hold back his tears. “You can beat this, brother.”

  
“You left her because she was mad. Are you going to leave me too?”

  
“I’m not leaving you.” Ubbe sighs. He looks up, unable to look at his brother any longer, but when he sees the place where they used to live, so broken down, so ripped to shreds, the tears start falling from his eyes.

  
Hvitserk gets up, and he reaches out a shaking, dirty hand. Ubbe hesitates to take it, because he knows that his brother is still drunk, still under the influence of mushrooms, of who knows what else. Still, he takes his hand, and he lets himself get dragged back up to his feet.

  
Hvitserk kisses him, and although Ubbe has missed his kisses more than he would ever admit, something about this kiss feels different. Tastes different. And when Hvitserk tries to slide a hand into his trousers, Ubbe stops him.

  
“Don’t. Not now, not like this.”

  
“I’m sorry,” Hvitserk whispers, “I don’t know how… I’m sorry, Ubbe,” he whispers, his voice breaking, as his lip starts quivering. Ubbe doesn’t know what to say, he doesn’t know how to help his brother, how to make this better. So he lies down on the dirty, dusty bed, and without saying a word, Hvitserk climbs into his arms, clinging onto him so tightly that Ubbe can feel his nails digging into his skin. But the pain doesn’t bother Ubbe, because as long as he can feel his brother’s grip, he knows he is still there. He hasn’t lost him. Not yet.

* * *

When Ubbe wakes up, he doesn’t even have to open his eyes to know that Hvitserk has left him. This time he doesn’t feel hurt or rejected though, because he knows that Hvitserk hasn’t chosen to leave him. He knows that the issues Hvitserk is fighting against are too big, that they are buried too deep inside of him. That he can’t fight this alone.

  
So he gets out of bed, and he goes home. When he gets there, Torvi is ignoring him, and when he tries to kiss her, she turns away from him.

  
“You found him then?”

  
“I did, but…”

  
“Did you fuck him?” Torvi whispers, making sure the children won’t hear.

  
“No.”

  
“Then where were you, Ubbe?”

  
“I was with Hvitserk, but it’s not like that. You should have seen him,” Ubbe tries, as he reaches for her arm, but she won’t let him touch her. “He thinks he is going mad, Torvi.”

  
“He is! Everyone knows he is.”

  
“He is not mad. You have no idea what…”

  
“What he’s been through?” Torvi asks. “What he did to you? To this family?”

  
“He is my brother, and I am going to help him fight this.”

  
“How?”

  
“I want him to stay with us,” Ubbe explains. “If I can keep an eye on him…”

  
“Is this a joke?” Torvi spits out. “You want him to stay here? With the children?”

  
“He needs our help.”

  
“I don’t trust him. I know you love him, but your love is making you blind, Ubbe. Can you not see what he has turned into?” Torvi asks, but Ubbe is unable to answer her question. Because he _can_ see it, but he knows that this is not who Hvitserk truly is. The Hvitserk he knows is still in there, somewhere. He has to be. “I do not want him around the children.”

  
“Then what do you want me to do?”

  
“I don’t know,” Torvi sighs. “But I need you, we all do,” she says, as she takes his hand, and places it on her stomach.

  
“You mean…”

  
“I am with child, Ubbe. I know you want to help your brother, but…”

  
“I know.”

* * *

Ubbe steps outside, hoping that some fresh air will help him clear his mind. But when he sees Hvitserk standing there, staring at him, he goes over to him, and he wraps his arms around him, just wanting, needing to feel his warmth, his safety.

  
“I want you to come and stay at ours,” he says, not letting go of his brother just yet. “We are going to help you, and…”

  
“I can’t.”

  
“Why not?”

  
“I heard,” Hvitserk admits, freeing himself from Ubbe’s grip. “I was coming over to see you, to thank you for last night, and I heard you and Torvi…”

  
“I don’t care what she says, Hvitserk. I need you to get better, I need…”

  
“Your family needs you.”

  
“You’re my family.”

  
“I’ll be fine.” Hvitserk fakes a smile, but the pain is showing, and it is breaking Ubbe’s heart to see him like this.

  
“You can’t let him win,” Ubbe whispers, as he puts a hand on the side of his brother’s neck.

  
“I won’t.”

  
“Where will you go? You need a place to live, Hvitserk, you…”

  
“I’ll be fine,” Hvitserk repeats, as he fakes another smile. “Thank you, for not giving up on me. I know everyone else has.”

  
“Have you?” Ubbe asks, “Given up?”

  
“I am going to fight this,” Hvitserk says, but Ubbe isn’t sure if he even believes it himself.

  
“Remember when we were in York?” he asks, and a small, shy smile forms on his brother’s lips. “We were happy, weren’t we?”

  
“Were we?” Hvitserk laughs, but it’s sad, nervous laughter.

  
“I’m not talking about the fighting, or about Ivar. I mean… you and I, we were happy. When it was just us, away from all of this. What if we pack up and leave, go somewhere… we can be happy again,” Ubbe suggests, willing to do anything to save his brother. But his brother brings his hand up to the side of his face, and he carefully, gently brushes his thumb over his skin, before flashing the saddest, most heartbreaking smile.

  
“Thank you,” he whispers, before pressing his lips against Ubbe’s for just a moment. He turns to leave, but then he turns back around, and for a split-second, Ubbe thinks he has changed his mind. The hope inside of him feels like a burning fire, but when he hears his brother’s words, it feels like he is back on that boat, and Hvitserk is leaving him again.

“Congratulations, by the way. You are going to be a great father, Ubbe.”

  
“Please, Hvitserk…”

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr : https://samunderthelights.tumblr.com/


End file.
